VM Sudheeran's appointment as President of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) in February 2014 had come as a surprise to many. Sudheeran was never expected to become the chosen man. If his entry was surprising, his exit has been nothing short of shocking. On Friday morning, Sudheeran announced his resignation as KPCC President, taking Congress leaders and cadres by surprise.
A solitary leader in the party, Sudheeran did not have the support of most other Congress leaders and could not win over the I and A factions of the party and its leaders Ramesh Chennithala and Oommen Chandy. The 68- year old politician was never a mass leader and neither could he inspire crowds. He was soft-spoken, and sometimes lacked political substance.
The rivalry persisted and many believe that it prompted Sudheeran to quit. Speculation is rife that Sudheeran did not want his rivals to criticise him for not performing owing to health grounds and that may have been the reason for his exit.
His differences with his colleagues was exposed during the allotment of tickets in the Assembly elections in 2016 and also during the recent selection of the District Congress Committee presidents. Chandy had remained absent when Sudheeran took over as the KPCC president. Chandy had refused to take charge as the opposition leader after the election debacle and the veteran leader’s move may have been to pressurise Sudheeran. Chandy continued to abstain from meetings of the United Democratic Front and the KPCC due to which the resentment heightened.
Sudheeran was not a part of any of the two factions, and barring TN Prathapan and Sarathchandra Prasad, he failed to gain the support of his party men. This paved a bumpy path for Sudheeran in the party. His uncompromising stands on issues like prohibition proved costly for the leaders and the party, which could also be one of the reasons for the UDF's election debacle.
“Sudheeran exposed the Methran Lake project and the land scam which had put some of the Congress leaders in a precarious position, especially when the elections were closing in. This gave LDF an edge. Sudheeran wanted inferior quality bars to shut down and gain political mileage. But Chandy went a step ahead and decided to shut all bars (except five star) ones and tried to steal Sudheeran's thunder,” a source in the Congress said.
Closing down the bars, in turn, paved the way for the bar bribery scam, the biggest blot on the Chandy government. Now, as speculation is rife over the reason behind his resignation, Congress leaders seemed guarded in their response. “He called me to tell the decision by 12 pm. Then I suggested that take over the post of the Vice President. But he declined the offer. He cited health problems as the reason for his resignation. The party has to be on its toes to face the Malappuram Loksabha by-election with his sudden decision. He is an active leader who won’t be able to abstain from the day to day affairs,” opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala told TNM.
KPCC vice-president VD Satheesan said Sudheeran’s performance as the KPCC president was unparalleled. “We have differences over certain issues. It’s natural in a democratic party. But it didn’t affect the unity of the party,” he said. TN Prathapan MLA said that Sudheeran was a democratic leader who stood for social causes and his tenure was vital for reuniting the party.